The Deceiving Boy
by wheeljackie
Summary: Armin discovered Kano's secret, and Kano is positive the blond boy was going to reveal it to the others.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is the first time i'm publishing a story, so I'm kind of hoping I didn't screw anything up in this. ;; I'm going to write a second chapter soon!**

**I'm pretty much obsessed with KagePro / SnK crossovers.. I'm so sorry.**

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Kano lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling lost in thought. He knew well what tattletale Armin would do soon, if not already. He revealed his secret, his true identity. If he wasn't punished, surely Corporal Levi and the Commander would keep a solid eye on him.

Surely he could use his secret to an advantage, correct? Although he definitely was not that kind of guy; it'd involve certain procedures that wouldn't much help him in the end. Not only that, but he was still loyal to the human race; it wasn't like he was Eren who could transform into a titan. Kano was far from a titan, though others may not understand him. Who could understand if he couldn't understand himself?

There were several things he could do in this situation, though each tempting idea was ridiculously selfish. Although he was the selfish kind however, and wasn't always as merciful as he pretended to be.

Pretended.

Kano chuckled quietly at the word. How well did anyone truly know him? How much of his story was a lie, how much was true? It didn't seem to matter anymore, after all this could be his last night alive.. Hiding away would be a cowardly move. It could only lead to a guaranteed execution once discovered.

.. Why was Kano worrying about this so much? It wasn't like him at all. Maybe he needed a walk to clear his head? That seemed like a good idea.

Slipping off his bunk the adolescent quietly tiptoed out of his room. No one seemed to notice him leave, which was very much a good thing for him. Kano had thankfully brought a jacket, which helped him fight off the cold.

Living inside the walls made it difficult to hide for a normal person, though it was mindblowingly easy for someone like Kano. He lifted his hand to his face and concentrated on it, and his hand changed color to a dark tan. It morphed into a much more feminine hand; Ymir's hand.

That was his secret. Was he Ymir? He could be her just as much as he could be Hanji Zoé or Jean Kirchstein. No, he was Kano Shuuya. A liar. A monster.

His vision blurred as memories flooded his mind. Tears aggressively escaped his cat-like eyes and the boy covered his face. What a monster he was! Nobody could enjoy the company of a liar.

"Kano?" A cautious voice called from behind him. Armin.. Did he truly find it safe to speak to him? What was going through his mind?

Kano turned to the other boy, smiling brightly. Nothing was wrong, absolutely nothing. At least that's from what Armin could see. His feelings were hidden. Safe. "Hey Armin, why are you up so late? You're usually snoring away by now." He let out chuckle, though his comrade only returned with a thoughtful stare. He finally cracked a smile and casually walked up to Kano.

"I was going to ask you the same question actually," the blond boy shrugged. That was it? No questions about his secret? No false accusations? "Mind if I take a walk with you?"

Saying no would be too suspicious, yet Kano didn't want to say yes. What was that kid playing? "If you want, go ahead. I was hoping to have some peace to myself though."

"Really? I thought you were the conversationalist here." Armin jogged to the other soldier's side. He seemed so casual, it was odd. "What have you been up to? You've definitely been handling Kido's.." He trailed off, eyes widening at his own words. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine, don't worry about it!" Kano patted the other's back. "We can't stop things from happening, and we can't undo the past. What's done is done I guess." Kano truly wished he could undo the paste. In reality he wasn't handling Kido's death well at all. The incident would replay in his dreams.. That titan.. How it devoured her..

"That's true," Armin sighed. "Say, you come from Trost don't you? Jean's from there; did you ever know him?" Great, Jean's been mentioned. He didn't want to think of him at the moment.

"I don't really remember him well, but I think I may have seen him running around as a kid. He was kind of cool, but I always stuck around Seto and Kido, along with a few others.." Kano shook his head. Time to change the topic. "Say, you're from Shiganshia right? Where the Colossal Titan breached Wall Maria? What was life like there?"

Armin's smile faded, replaced with a darkening face. "Well, Eren and Mikasa were my only friends. I was bullied because I was weaker than the rest, but they always stood up for me."

"That reminds me quite a bit of Seto. Since he was weaker, he was bullied. Kido and I would always help him out, though." Kano chuckled lightly. Perhaps they weren't so different after all? No, they were still very different from each other. Very different.

* * *

The two spent their time conversing about their experiences as children. The awkwardness faded surprisingly easy, though it may of been from them being conversationalists.

Although, Kano knew well Armin saw him.. Armin knew that Kano knew as well. Kano stopped walking to look into his eyes. The blond boy blinked in confusion; Kano still wore his usual careless face. He chuckled and grabbed Armin's shoulder. "You know, I'm kind of bored. Do you want to hear a story? I can't believe I still remember it."

Armin passed the cat-eyed boy a curious look. What was he trying to do? He'd usually go on about it without asking. Was it something related to what happened? "Sure, I enjoy hearing stories. What's it about?"

Kano pulled Armin closer to him and winked. "It's about a six year old boy, ten years ago. He lived in a normal town, much like any normal story.

"Problem was, he wasn't treated the best way possible. The townsfolk started spreading rumours of being abused by his mother. He didn't like seeing his mom so upset, so he proceeded to cover himself in order to hide the scars and bruises on his body."

Armin couldn't understand why Kano would suddenly tell a story like this; it never seemed to be his kind of thing. Unless...

"One day, August 15th, thieves broke into his home and murdered his mother. They attempted to kill the boy as well, but.. It didn't turn out the way they had planned."

"What happened?" The listener asked. How did Kano remember as much as the exact date? It wasn't hard to piece it together.

"Let's just say he got away, but he had a price to pay." The teller's face darkened as he looked down at the dirt, away from Armin. "He may have wanted to hide himself so badly that he got what he wanted, but it's not what you'd think it'd be.

"He could lie and get away with it. He could trick others into thinking he was something he was not. I mean that literally; he could trick you into thinking he was your mother if he really wanted.

"The kid couldn't control it. He could change from a child to a sickly old man in the blink of an eye. He had no one to help him; he was alone.

Deceiving became his specialty. He didn't want it, but there was a monster inside him forcing him to do those things. Hell, he himself was a monster. A lonely, disgusting monster without a soul."

Armin stared at Kano in shock. Was this what he truly thought of himself? A worthless monster that needed to be put to death?

"The boy came across this girl; heh, she was rather pretty. She pitied him and decided to take him in. He was able to become friends with two others of his age.. They were the same as him, monsters. Things were out of their control.

"The girl helped them pull through. She helped them realize they were not in fact monsters and to use their abilities for the better.. Helped them realize they needed not to shun them.

"She only thought she was able to get through to the boy, but of course he hid the truth. He hid the truth like he always did; he was forever a monster, a burden on others. Worthless. He grew up with a family, yet things were the same for him. He couldn't be saved, there was too much he hid from others. There were far too many lies told and promises broken to even forgive himself.

"He just looked happy, but in reality it was all just a silly lie." Kano finally looked back at Armin with a desperate face. It made the younger boy nauseated from the amount of pain in his eyes. Kano shrugged and wrapped an arm around Armin's shoulder. "I spoke too much, didn't I? Sorry about that, it's just a made up story anyway. It's completely fictional." He laughed and released the other, then walked casually back towards the bunks. He turned to look back at Armin and passed a wink at him. "By the way, I had fun talking with you. We should definitely do this again sometime." With that, Kano left Armin alone to return to his bunk.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello guys! So I decided to continue this story for everyone~ I had so much fun writing the first chapter, I couldn't help but continue. uwu**

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It had been a month since the incident between Armin and Kano. Neither had spoken a word to each other since it happened, but Armin nor Kano ever forgot. Of course, the two never forgot for entirely different reasons.

Kano couldn't forget Armin because the blond trusted him enough to keep his secret. He didn't loudly judge him or accuse him of false crimes he never committed; he took it like a little harmless truth. Like it didn't truly matter or hurt anyone. Why did he treat it like that?

Armin couldn't forget Kano because of what Kano thought of himself. He always looked cheerful and bragged about himself, yet so suddenly, so easily he called himself a monster? He'd begun to wonder how much of Kano's ostentatious demeanour was a lie. However, Armin respected him and chose not to investigate this matter.

Unfortunately they both knew secrets don't last. Both of the two knew well how Armin could easily be pulled into the problem if Kano's ability was revealed to the public. Hell, it could even earn him a death sentence.

However, Kano was a good liar. Armin was a good negotiator. It was amazing how much Armin suddenly knew to the slim soldier through a single tale. Simply looking at Kano he could feel the difference. He was always very mysterious, he didn't talk much about his past. The most he did speak of was when he lived with Seto and Kido. Armin suddenly understood why he refused to tell his past; the memories pained him. He didn't want to remember them.

Not only was he mysterious, but he was also awfully unpredictable. He could slack off one minute, and the next he could be startling Sasha from behind. It was suddenly obvious that he was using his ability to mask his true emotions and actions. He'd been hiding his true self entirely. Who was his true self? Was he anything like the Kano everyone else, possibly even Seto, can see?

So many questions left unanswered, but Armin forced himself away from asking Kano. He already knew too much.

"Hey Armin, is something wrong?" Eren's concerned voice jolted the blond back into reality. He was thinking too hard on Kano's situation, but why now? Why so long after the incident?

"No, I'm fine. Just a little tired, I guess." A common excuse, but Eren seemed to buy it. He swallowed a spoonful of porridge before looking back at his frailer friend.

"Okay, if you say so."

Mikasa looked unconvinced, narrowing her eyes at Armin. It made him feel somewhat uncomfortable, but he forced himself to ignore the cold stare. The table was suddenly silent, which was rather unusual for the trio. Oddly enough, it was Mikasa who broke the silence.

"You're hiding something."

Armin's blood ran cold. Was it really that obvious? Eren looked up from his lunch for a moment to stare at his childhood friend. "Mikasa's right. What's going on, Armin?" The only answer they received was the silent shake of his head. He wouldn't lie to his best friends, nor would he admit the truth. He knew Eren and Mikasa well enough to know they wouldn't keep Kano's secret. The black-haired girl nodded quietly, causing Eren to pass her a confused stare. She leaned over to take a bite of her potato.. She deserted the matter just like that. Armin sighed in relief(which was taken note by Mikasa) and stood up with his tray. He needed to speak with Kano.

Ignoring the protests from Eren, he slowly walked by each table, searching for the cat-like boy. It wasn't until he saw the familiar dirty blond hair at the farthest table did he find him.

"Hey, Kano.." Armin started once in front of the other. "I need-"

"Hello Armin!" Kano grinned and pulled at the blond's sleeve. "Come sit with us!" Armin had no choice but to sit with them if he wanted to talk to Kano. He could feel the accusing and confused glares from Eren and Mikasa.

He sat beside a tall kid with short, pitch black hair and brown eyes. He wore a hair clip that seemed like it could stick there forever. This was Seto Kousuke, Kano's friend. He waved at Armin with a cheerful, welcoming face before speaking to him.

"Nice to talk to you again, Armin! You're never hanging out with us, why'd you drop by?" Seto patted the blond's back gently. It surprised him a little; he was acting as if they'd been friends for years.

"I need to talk to Kano about some things," he responded, passing an urgent look to the dining soldier. "It's an extremely important matter that only we were involved in." He looked at Kano once the last words were said. The sixteen year old rolled his eyes lazily, not seeming to take his request seriously.

"Sure, we'll talk. After we're done eating, though."

"Right."

* * *

Armin knew both Seto and Kano were extremely social, but they were treating him like they'd been friends for years.

They acted just like siblings. Kano would steal Seto's potato and bite at it, while the Seto would glare in protest. It never lasted long though, which definitely seemed to bother Kano. The black-haired kid was very laid back and couldn't be angry for longer than a minute, which seemed to destroy Kano's sanity as he desperately searched for something he'd snap at.

Armin felt comfortable and included. He enjoyed listening to Kano's humour and Seto's selfless comments. They seemed so much like Eren and Mikasa, like they were family.. However they were also far from them.

"Well, I'm rather full. I think I'll be going now, so you two can talk out whatever you wanted to talk about." Seto patted Armin's back again before making his leave. He waved at the remaining two as he left the room.

Kano yawned and stood up, followed by Armin. "Why don't we converse outside? It's quieter there."

The blond nodded. "I agree. I'm hoping you can answer everything honestly.." Kano only chuckled, dumping his tray. Armin imitated him, then walked towards the exit.

A hand snatched his shoulder just as he was about to leave. He didn't need to turn around to know the identity of this soldier. He sighed and turned to look at Eren. "I just wanted to ask Kano something, but he asked me to stay with them. I didn't want to be rude."

"Didn't want to be rude?" Eren growled. "You were freaking Mikasa and I out! You never just leave like that; what do you want to ask him?"

"I can't really tell you, it's personal. I really just need answers; I'm sorry." With that, Eren looked down to his feet. Armin hated seeing him like that, but he heeded the German's words.

"Okay, get the answers you need. Just don't do that again, alright? It's not like you." He turned around and left in the opposite direction of Armin. He felt guilty, but there was nothing he could do to help.

Kano's voice interrupted Armin's thoughts. "Yawn, are we going yet? It's pretty damned cold out there! I don't want to stay out for too long, I'm just skin and bones after all."

That guy certainly excelled at ruining moments. In this case, it was a good thing. Armin needed to focus on Kano and nothing else. He followed the dirty blond outside and around a corner, where he stopped to wink at the fifteen year old.

"So, what is it you want to know about that night? No lying, promise. I keep promises."

It wasn't a surprise Kano knew what he wanted to ask about; now he needed to decide on the first question. He straightened himself and thought for a moment.

_"The boy came across this girl; heh, she was rather pretty. She pitied him and decided to take him in. He was able to become friends with two others of his age.. They were the same as him, monsters. Things were out of their control."_

"Seto's just like you, isn't he?" Armin blurted. "He has an ability just like you, but what is it?" Seto seemed normal. He looked normal, talked normal, acted normal. He couldn't find an odd thing about him.

"Really, Armin? I thought you were the smart one here." Kano snorted. "Use your head and think! You've got to remember something."

Armin closed his eyes, trying to remember anything abnormal since the day he'd met Seto.

The day he'd met Seto.

The blond's eyes widened as he was hit with a pang of realization. He suddenly remembered the one thing that had confused Armin at the time.

* * *

_Armin was hanging upside down. He groaned, trying to ignore the snorts from other trainees. Still, he could feel the heat from embarrassment rushing to his face. He was finally released from the simulator after another minute of hanging. The dusty ground felt horribly uncomfortable to the boy; his legs wobbled uneasily for a couple moments. His first attempt at the 3D maneuver gear was a failure. It didn't bother him too much though, he'd get better at it._

_"That was a good try," someone behind him commented. The blond turned around to face a black-haired kid. He was muscular, but certainly not enough to have a six pack, and wore a bronze-coloured hair clip which parted his bangs. "You're smart, you'll get it eventually."_

_"Thanks, I think," Armin looked up at the tall stranger. He recalled seeing him around when training, but with so many trainees he must've not noticed him. "I'm Armin, what's your name?"_

_He laughed. "Name's Seto, nice to meet you." Seto reached out to grasp the other's hand and gently shook it. "Seto Kousuke is my full name. I'm from Trost; nice place there. Aren't you one of the guys from the Shiganshia District?"_

_"Yeah, I am." Seto definitely seemed rather cheerful, Armin didn't mind that. It just surprised him he'd suddenly be speaking to him._

_Hands suddenly came from behind the taller one, grasping both his wrists and pulling him backwards. Seto rolled his eyes when another kid, shorter than Armin, peeked out from behind Seto. He had blond hair and yellow, cat-like eyes. It was a little disturbing really, having eyes like those watching your every move. He had a somewhat babyish face that probably came in handy; at least before joining the Trainees' Squad. He casually sidestepped Seto and made his way towards the younger blond with a grin. "Hey, I'm Kano! How's it going?" He patted Armin's back with a laugh. "The girl behind you is Kido, she doesn't talk much." Armin turned to look at the long-haired hooded girl. It wasn't easy to see her face, and the blond wasn't sure if he wanted to._

_Her voice was very flat and quiet, it was a bit difficult to hear. "Hey," she muttered. "You seem dizzy." To Armin's surprise, the girl smiled. "You should rest soon."_

_"I'll see what I can do after training," Armin shrugged. Kano pulled the boy by the jacket and dragged him towards Seto. He winked before shoving him closer to the tall one._

_"Seto has some tips on mastering the simulator. Relax, he's really laid back if you hadn't noticed!" Seto coughed to silence the cat-eyed boy before looking at Armin._

_"First off, I'm sorry." He looked into the blond's eyes apologetically. "I don't like doing these kinds of things." Armin was confused, staring back at Seto. He was about to ask what he meant, until he saw it._

_His eyes were red._

* * *

Armin blinked. "His eyes were red, but what does that have to do with his ability?" Another question suddenly spiked in his head. "What was he apologizing for?" It wasn't difficult to realize he was using his ability on him, but Armin never felt anything odd. He felt absolutely normal.

"Okay, I guess I'll answer that for you," Kano sighed, yet it was clearly a mocking sigh. "We needed information, you had that information. Seto was scanning your thoughts and hell, he probably watched a bit of your past as well."

Armin was dumbfounded. He felt disturbed to know someone entered his head and read his private thoughts. What kind of information did he want? "Why did he do that?"

Kano snorted. "Stick around and maybe you'll find out. Don't need to worry though, Seto rarely uses his ability unless it's extremely important." He shrugged. "Unless it's with animals. He can have a normal conversation with them if he wanted."

Seto speaks to animals? That's odd, yet very interesting. Armin nodded and thanked Kano for telling him this. That wasn't the most important thing he wanted to know, however. He looked down at the dirt and whispered, "Is a monster what you truly think of yourself?"

There was a long pause before the older soldier scoffed. "I never said I'd answer everything; the most I did was promise not to lie." Armin took that as a yes. He slowly walked up to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. Kano blinked, his gaze flickering back and forth from Armin and his hand. "That's kind of creepy, Armin."

Chuckling, Armin looked at his possible new friend square in the eyes. "A monster doesn't fight for the sake of humanity, does he? A monster is cold, uncaring. Is that what you are? Are you a merciless assassin who kills for his own pleasure?" He tightened his grip on Kano. "Would a monster fight tooth and nail to save his friends?"

Kano froze. Armin wasn't sure how long he'd been quiet for, but it was a long time. Finally he smiled and pulled Armin closer to him. He then whispered softly in the blond's ear. "When I said you could stick around, it was an honest offer. You'll find out much more about what I am."

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**The ending is kind of rushed, but I'll definitely make up for it in the next chapter! Thanks for reading, guys. c:**


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